French Toast stuffed with Banana and Peanut Butter from Café 222 in San Diego California

This is a breakfast favorite from my trip to San Diego.  Bobby Flay did a throw down against this recipe…to be honest I’m not sure how you could possibly make it any better!

Ingredients

• 6 slices day-old white or wheat bread
• 1 to 2 ripe bananas
• 8 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
• Honey, for drizzling
• 4 eggs
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 1 tablespoon dark rum
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• Dash salt
• Butter or oil, for frying
• Powdered sugar, for topping
• Maple Syrup, for topping

Method:

Remove crust from bread. Lay bread out on counter and spread a thin layer of peanut butter on each slice. Peel banana and slice enough to cover every other piece of bread. (You will be making 3 complete sandwiches).

Drizzle a small amount of honey on each piece of bread that does not have banana on it. (These are the tops). Place honey drizzled piece of bread on top of a piece with bananas on it to make a sandwich.

Repeat until you have made 3 sandwiches.
In a shallow medium sized bowl, gently whip, by hand, the eggs, cream, vanilla, rum, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.

Heat skillet to medium heat, around 350 to375 degrees F, or until butter melts and begins to sizzle. Dip 1 sandwich at a time into rum batter and place into skillet. Cook until golden brown (about 3 to 4 minutes before turning) on each side.

Remove from skillet and cut in 1/2 diagonally. Top with powdered sugar, butter and maple syrup

* One thing I plan to try in th future is to replace the peanut butter with Nutella hazelnut   spread….I’m sure almond butter would work great too!

I use to love the Galloping Gourmet with Graham Kerr and after seeing this clip I can certainly remember why!!! Watch as Graham tries to extract this "whaterever" from it's pan!!! (I wonder if  "Pam" had been invented yet...that may have helped poor Graham!)

Shrimp with Garam Masala Sauce

This is one of my favorite recipes. I got it from a gal I worked with a few years back. It is an authentic Indian recipe using aromatic spices of Indian curries. The spices blended together are: cumin, coriander, bay leaves, cardamon, black pepper, cloves and cinnamon. I love it with the shrimp but you can also use chicken breast cut into one inch strips.

My kids actually fight over this whenever we have it. My tough critic of a husband gives it an  8 on the taste scale of 1-10! Not a bad rating coming from him!!!

Ingredients:

1 medium onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves minced

1 inch of fresh gingerroot, peeled and minced

1 tsp tumeric

1 1/2 tsp garam masala

1/2  large green pepper

15 1/2 oz can of dices tomatoes

slat to taste

a dash of cayenne
1lb of large shrimp, deveined and peeled
14 oz sour cream

Method:

Brown the first 5 ingredients in oil (Iuse olive oil). Sautee until the onions become transparent, about 4 minutes.

Then add the green peppers and tomatos and cook until you see the oil seperate from the mix in the pan.

Add the shrimp to the mix along with a small amount of water, about 1/2 cup. Cook until the shrimp turns pink and then add your sour cream and cook through about 3 minutes.

Add cayenne to the mix and salt to taste. Serve over rice with a garnish of cilantro.

...and see what your family's reaction will be!!



This earned a solid 8 on the old Chris taste scale!

Bouranee Baunjan (Eggplant With Yogurt Sauce…an Afghan Dish)

I am posting this recipe as my lead off dish because I recently experienced it for the first time while I was in San Diego, and can I tell you it was simply scrumptious. So I Googled Afghan eggplant recipes and then cross referenced it with the menu at Chopahan Restaurant in San Diego. Tonight I tried it out on my sister and she loved it!!!

Ingredients:

1 medium eggplant

Salt or onion salt

Olive oil for frying

1 medium onion; sliced thin

1 bell pepper (any color); seeded, sliced thin

1 large ripe tomato

1/4 cup water

1 small can tomato sauce (7oz)

1/2 teaspoon corriander

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

Fresh cilantro or mint(optional) I used mint.

6 oz. plain yogurt

2 cloves garlic (or more, or 1 teaspoon dried garlic powder)

Method:
1. Cut the stems from eggplant and peel. Cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Spread on a tray and sprinkle slices liberally with salt. Leave for 30 minutes, then dry well with paper towels. Pour enough oil into a deep frying pan to cover base well. Fry eggplant until lightly browned on each side. Set aside on a plate when browned.Add more oil to pan as required for remaining slices.

2. As oil drains out of eggplants on standing, return this to the pan and add onions and bell peppers. Fry gently until onions are transparent. Remove to another plate.Place a layer of eggplant into a Pyrex pan. Top with some sliced onion, bell peppers and tomato slices. Repeat with remaining ingredients.

3. Mix in any remaining oil from eggplant and onion and add water, tomato sauce, corriander, salt to taste, pepper and turmeric, and pour over the entire dish with spoon to cover evenly.

4. Cover and place in a preheated 350-degree oven for 30 minutes. Uncover for the last 10 minutes to evaporate the excess liquid.

5. Combine yogurt, garlic cloves and salt. Top eggplant with yogurt. Sprinkle top with cilantro or fresh mint. Serve with fresh pita bread.

Bon Appetite!!!

This recipe earned an 8.5 on the old Chris taste scale...wahooo!